


better seems far away

by shslundertaker



Category: Dangan Ronpa - All Media Types, New Dangan Ronpa V3: Everyone's New Semester of Killing
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, Major Spoilers, Other, Spoilers, Waking Up, sitcoms
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-11
Updated: 2018-01-11
Packaged: 2019-03-03 08:41:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,592
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13337529
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shslundertaker/pseuds/shslundertaker
Summary: Sometimes it feels like there should be a red-eyed childcare worker and a black-haired detective by her side as she exits the rubble.Two others are in their place.





	better seems far away

Himiko woke up with a start at eleven P.M. She woke up in a cold sweat, nightmares slipping out of her head before she could recall what she had been so scared of during the night. She pulled her hat down over her eyes and sat up, drawing her knees to herself. It wasn’t nice at all. Life was tiring… but HImiko couldn’t sleep, even if that was all she wanted. It was a wonder that her hat had stayed on through the night through all her tossing and turning, but her hat was one of the things she didn’t want to let go of.

Breathing slowly, she found a pig plush crammed into the corner of her childish bed and drew it to her chest, running her fingers through the pink fur, matted with age and use. She felt like such a child, but she wasn’t! Really she wasn’t! She was a great mage- No… no she wasn’t. Getting up, she slipped on her bunny slippers and shuffled her way to the kitchen, pig plush in tow.

HImiko didn’t expect the kitchen to be dark and empty, honestly. They were too broken to all be asleep. Her suspicions were confirmed when she saw the dim yellow light, silhouetting the tall broad figure and untamed hair barely restrained by a ponytail.

“Nnnnehhh…”

“Huh?” Gonta Gokuhara turned around then, holding a fragile cup between his large hands tightly enough that Himiko suspected the pink ceramic would crack at any moment. “Ah, Himiko-san… Gonta was just heating up some milk because he couldn’t sleep. Would you like some!” Himiko nodded slightly, setting the pig plush on the counter before popping up next to it with the help of the colorful kid’s stool lacerated with scratches barely covered with glittery heart and rabbit stickers.

As the gentle giant opened the fridge to take out the carton, his elbow bumped a precariously balanced thermos and knocked it to the linoleum, where it landed with a loud clatter, the lid skidding across the floor. What followed was a thump from the bedroom across from the hall followed by a long yell.

“Sorry, Iruma-san! You can return to sleep now!” It was too late, the girl burst from the room wearing a nightie that was a little… less than decent. Gonta shrieked and turned away, face aflame, and the peach-blonde paused, before lookinga ther own outfit and sighing.

“Be right back.” True to her word, she retreated into her room and then came out again, this time shrugging her ridiculously luxurious pink silk robe over her shoulders. It was even embroidered with fancy decals and Miu’s initials, and truly it had been extremely expensive. Still, it didn’t really matter, seeing as it wasn’t even their money they had bought it with. Miu strolled into the kitchen and leaned on the counter.

“What the f-“ She paused, blue eyes flashing with emotion and pink-painted nails digging angry red crescents into her palms before she crossed her arms. “What are you guys doing out here?” Her tone was soft and level, and Himiko shook her head slightly. It was almost scary seeing how quickly Iruma was trying to change, to separate herself from the her in the game. Then again… it seemed like all of them were, right? Gonta cut off her train of thought by setting a steaming mug patterened with stars in front of her.

“We’re having some warm milk, Iruma-san!”

“Milk?” Iruma repeated, grinning. A joke seemed to rest on the tip of her tongue but then she stopped and swallowed. “Do I get some?” Gonta nodded and moved to heat some more up, and Iruma immediately went to the fridge and started pawing through the mysterious drawer that she had dubbed hers a while ago.

“…What are you doing?” Iruma didn’t talk, just pulled out can after jar after bottle before lining them up in neat rows on the counter. Himiko bent to the side to try to read the lids, but they swam in front of her sleep-dazed state. “What’s this?” A smirk curled up Iruma’s lips.

“Watch and learn, short stack.” As soon as Gonta finished heating up the milk and placed it on the counter by Himiko, Iruma leapt into action. One by one, she deftly moved from jar to jar in a rhythm that Himiko couldn’t be bothered to follow.

“And voilà!” The questions Himiko had mostly died when Iruma tapped her spoon against the rim of her striped cup and then held it up like a prize. “All done! Witness the masterpiece of the great Miu Iruma!” Both Himiko and Gonta leaned forward and peered into the cup, and were accosted by a burst of chocolate scent.

“Hot chocolate?” That’s what it seemed to be. The inventor had melted chocolate chunks into the warm drink, and added whipped cream, chocolate sauce, and sprinkles.

“Wow, Iruma-san, that looks delicious!”

“Of course it does, big-… Gonta-san.” The change in names seemingly went unnoticed by Gonta, who hummed happily and went to mix up several more cups of drink, seeing as he had sppedily drained his first cup. Himiko noticed, though, too tired to comment.

“Hm…” Miu twisted a strand of her hair as she sipped her sugary drink. “TV?” Himiko shrugged, but hopped down from the counter and drifted after Iruma to the couch. Gonta joined them too, balancing a tray on one hand while trying to duck under the way-too-low doorway. When they squeezed onto the couch, Iruma immediately flicked the TV on to the last thing they had been watching, a sitcom where people told outdated jokes to cheesy laugh tracks.

It was stupid, the show, but it was mindless and that’s all that they needed. Himiko shifted in her small part of the couch, trying to get comfortable for the show. Gonta already took up most of the couch, though, with his massive size, and Iruma had splayed herself out, leaving Himiko barely a cushion to get comfortable on. That was okay. It kept her awake, and distracted.

It seemed nice, almost, just three kids watching sitcoms at midnight, drinks in hand as they tried to recover. It was calm, but calm never lasted long, did it?

They had been watching for an hour, almost, dazed by the colorful outfits and snappy music, punctuated with snorts and jokes from Miu, when something caught her eye on TV. A bright shade of neon pink… a shade she never wanted to see again, followed by a laugh they would never want to see again.

“Puhuhuhuhu…” Three pairs of eyes snapped to the TV, shock and horror crossing their face as they looked at the visage of the black and white robotic bear with a glowing red eye. “You thought it was over… you thought you’d never see it again. Well, look what’s back! That’s right, folks, everyone’s favorite murder game, Danganronpa, comes back for a 54th season!” Iruma let out a strangled whimper and Himiko felt the same. Images flashed across the screen, images from previous seasons that Himiko just wanted to forget, forget, forget- Frames of a black hat, nearly torn to shreds and dusted with pink stains, lying on the corpse of an equally destroyed body, the limp body of an assassin, a short form hanging from the rafters-

Mocking music filled her head and she wanted it to be over over over over and gone gone gone- Then a crash of a cup on the floor snapped her attention away and Gonta turned off the TV with a trembling hand, looking like he wanted nothing more than to put his fist through the now dark screen. Iruma hugged herself, tears hemming her blue eyes, and Gonta quickly moved to sweep together the shattered ceramic so no one stepped on it. Himiko’s lower lip trembled.

“Again… they’re doing it again…” Iruma’s words came out in broken breaths. “Why? Why is this world, this goddamn world sick enough that people want to see this?” Himiko couldn’t move, just shifted a little bit to try to wrap her arms around Iruma in a ginger embrace. Normally the former inventor shunned physical contact, but there are things one can do at 1 AM. Her shoulders shook and her tears dripped onto Himiko’s blue footie pajamas, and before long the red-haired girl found herself shedding tears as well. Iruma looked over the top of Himiko’s head and smiled through her tears at Gonta.

“Come over here.” Quickly, Gonta slid down the couch and wrapped his arms around both of them, almost lifting them off the couch. Iruma squeaked.

“Down, down! Gah, too tight, too tight.” He dropped them with a mess of hurried apologies, and to Himiko’s surprise, she found herself laughing as she bounced on the couch, bumping off both Iruma and Gonta before falling to a stop on her side. Iruma must have found the laughter contagious, because she started cackling, soon followed by Gonta’s tentative laugh.

Maybe… maybe hope couldn’t be found just yet. Maybe they couldn’t close their eyes without seeing blue hair and blue eyes that glittered with lies and despair. Maybe they couldn’t lie to themselves that they were okay just yet.

Yet also… maybe they could look for hope. Maybe it was there all along, but hidden behind the despair that so frequently filled their heads. Maybe it only appeared when they were together, laughing together, smiling together, hoping together.

Himiko could believe that they would find hope.  
Himiko did believe it.

Himiko hoped for it.

 

**Author's Note:**

> yeah I wrote this in October but never posted it


End file.
